Bulandshahr villagers open gates of Shiva temple for Muslims to offer namaaz in courtyard

Meerut: It was indeed a rare spectacle, at least for the people of western Uttar Pradesh, when scores of Muslims bowed down to offer namaz in the courtyard of a Shiva temple in Bulandshahr.

Setting example of bonhomie amid rising communal rhetoric in the region, residents of Bulandshahr’s Jainpur village on Sunday afternoon threw open the gate of Shiva temple for the Muslim devotees who couldn’t reach the mosque on time due to traffic congestion.

As a sea of devotees gathered in Bulandshahr on Sunday to attend the final day of ‘Tabligi Iztema’, a three-day Islamic congregation, a few men got stuck in traffic near the village at the time of namaaz. When the Muslim men narrated their tale to the locals, they decided to take up the matter with the temple committee members. Together, in unison, they decided to throw open the temple gate for the Muslims. Soon, the Shiva temple’s water taps were opened for ‘wazu’ and mats were laid for namaz in its courtyard.

“The message of love and brotherhood should spread far and wide. Some Muslim brothers got stuck in the traffic jam here and it was namaaz time. Since there wasn’t any other place for them to offer prayers, we opened the gate of the Shiva temple and asked them to come in,” said Amar Singh, the priest of the Shiva temple.